India backs tribes after mine ruling

TOTAL CONTEMPTA report commissioned by the environment minister said Vedanta was occupying land illegally and its project would destroy a whole tribe

AFP , NEW DELHI

Protesters dressed as a “Na’vi” from James Cameron’s film Avatar take part in a demonstration on July 28 as British mining giant Vedanta held its annual general meeting in London.

PHOTO: AFP

India’s environment minister struck down a controversial mining project yesterday by multinational Vedanta that threatened a tribal group whose fate was compared with the stars of the film Avatar.

Jairam Ramesh rejected the proposal by British-based resource giant Vedanta, owned by Indian businessman Anil Agarwal, to build an open-cast bauxite mine in the Niyamgiri Hill range in the eastern state of Orissa.

The 8,000-strong Dongria Kondh tribespeople believe the remote hills are the home of their God, Niyam Raja, and rely on the land for their crops and livelihood.

Survival International, which fights for tribal groups, has run a highly successful public relations campaign likening the plight of the Dongria Kondh to the fictional Na’vi tribe in the blockbuster James Cameron film Avatar.

Ramesh told reporters that forest clearance for the project had not been granted, in keeping with a recommendation by an environment ministry advisory panel, meaning the project was “inoperable.”

“Only after being reassured by the attorney general, I have gone ahead with my decision — upholding the recommendation of the panel after due consideration,” he said.

London-listed Vedanta, the second-largest aluminum producer in India, wanted the mine in Orissa to secure a supply of bauxite for a nearby aluminum refinery.

The proposed 125 billion-rupee (US$2.7 billion) investment has emerged as a test case in India, pitting industrial development interests against those of indigenous peoples and the environment.

Vedanta argues that the mine, which has been mired in controversy since 2005, would cause minimum disturbance to the remote hills and that mined areas would be planted with trees once the bauxite was extracted.

The rejection from Ramesh appears the final nail in the coffin for the project and Vedanta has recently signaled that it is prepared to look for another site.

In a report commissioned by Ramesh and made public earlier this month, a panel of experts said the planned Vedanta project would threaten the “very survival” of the Dongria Kondh.

The report said going ahead with the open-caste mine would have a huge environmental impact that would “drastically alter” the region’s water supply, affecting both ecological systems and human communities.

It also declared that Vedanta was in “illegal occupation” of 26 hectares of land in the area at a time when the mine had yet to receive federal approval.

“This is an act of total contempt for the law on the part of the company and shows an appalling degree of collusion on the part of the concerned officials,” it said.

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